Trio displays diversity that's driving hip-hop

As a singular behemoth, hip-hop defines modern culture in a way that dwarfs the rest of radio.

As a singular behemoth, hip-hop defines modern culture in a way that dwarfs the rest of radio.

One can't watch television, cruise Facebook or read a magazine without encountering hip-hop - the music, the culture, the language, the bravado, the spirit.

Although hip-hop is barely 30 years old, its prominence is envied - a notion seen in the crossover of its production techniques, its style and its fashion.

Yet, like pop, rock and country, hip-hop has matured into a splintered entity - a genre with so many personalities, types and offshoots that nailing down its main crux of influence has become impossible.

So what is hip-hop today?

Is it, at its core, just a big business, of red carpets and expensive suits, as it is with rapper Jay-Z?

Or is the genre still defined by thug superstars such as Lil Wayne and other notoriously criminal players who have replaced the gangsta rap of the late 1980s and the crunk bad boys of the early 2000s?

On the flip side, hip-hop might be most visible when disguised as Top 40 - as it is with the music of Ke$ha, the singer and rapper behind the single TiK ToK.

Modern hip-hop somehow manages to be all of the above.

In light of Jay-Z's concert series, Lil Wayne's jail sentence and Ke$ha's ownership of the sales and radio charts, this snapshot of the largest hip-hop influences presents a colorful portrait:

Jay-Z

Jay-Z has remained an unusual player in the hip-hop game.

His flawless flow and 'hood history gave him credibility on the street.

His business savvy made him an omnipresent figure in pop culture - music, movies and more.

His presence as a hit-maker launched the career of Kanye West and others, and it recently granted him his first No.1 single, Empire State of Mind.

Jay-Z took a more creative approach to the old school of hip-hop. Not only did he become a label mogul and a fashion figurehead, but he did so with a straightforward sensibility.

He exudes confidence, and, more important, he supports his claims with some of the most intense rhymes in the game.

In 2010, Jay-Z is hip-hop personified. He's independently revered and commercially viable. He has graduated from baggy T-shirts and ball caps to designer suits and Italian shoes. He's at home on the covers of both Cigar Aficionado and Rolling Stone. He's as comfortable on the streets of Brooklyn, where he's housing his New Jersey Nets (as

a part owner of the team) in a new arena, as he is on Wall Street.

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne is a madman Southern genius.

The New Orleans native behind the 5 million-selling single Lollipop (and the 3 million-selling, Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III from 2008) is also a paparazzi magnet - and now celebrity outlets are digging for Wayne dirt at Rikers Island, New York's primary jail complex.

Wayne began serving a yearlong sentence at Rikers earlier this month after being convicted of possessing an illegal firearm, a charge from 2007. He's only one of many hip-hop artists who have done time.

But Wayne's story is different because he is serving his substantial term just a few years after every teenager in America was singing along to his multiple No.1 hits.

Families invited Wayne into their living rooms via music videos and award shows. Fans championed the release of his first rock album, the risky, critically panned Rebirth. And a month later, their champion is behind bars.

America seems to have grown accustomed to hip-hop's criminal element. If Wayne is a bad boy, the thinking goes, that's no reason to hate him.

Ke$ha

One of the most critically derided pop stars of the past decade, Ke$ha has created a wave of international buzz.

Fans love the incontestably contagious nature of her hit songs. Haters call her "dumb" and "derivative," words that describe her all-party lyrics and Gaga-styled beats and melodies.

Say what you want; Ke$ha is a top-three-selling artist in 2010. TiK ToK is everywhere, in Europe and the United States, and her debut album, Animal, probably has more hit singles to come.

Ke$ha, however, isn't much of a rapper. She does rap-talk her way through most of her songs. And that's what sets her apart from her pop sisters.

The New York Times recently compared her to Deborah Harry of Blondie, calling Ke$ha a groundbreaking force as a white female musician who has assimilated into hip-hop culture.

Ke$ha, though as hip-hop as biscuits and gravy, marginally qualifies with her strained-and-sexy vocal delivery. And, given her recent promotional rush, she is one of the loudest voices in modern hip-hop.

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